IS THERE PEACE IN OUR HEARTS? - 1/18/23 (Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time)

Mark 3:4–5

Then he said to the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. 

For the full readings, click here: 

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011823.cfm

Blessed Wednesday! Our Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace. As such, when we are doing His will, one of the fruits that we will see is lasting peace. However, the opposite is true as well. If we are not doing the will of God by constantly sinning, we will experience lack of peace. This is what we also witness in the examples of the Pharisees. When they were looking at Jesus and the man with a disabled hand, instead of desiring the good thing for the man and instead of rejoicing, they were intentionally looking for something to blame on Christ. They were willing to think that healing a man on Sabbath was wrong just to justify their criticisms on Christ. When Jesus responded to them, they simply remained silent, but our Lord was grieved when He saw the hardness of our hearts. The graces from God and His peace will not enter the hearts of those who are not willing to listen to the voice of Christ. Some would rather listen to the lies of the devil and believe them instead of the truth from the Holy Spirit. 

Despite the hardness of their hearts, Jesus remained merciful with them. The fact that He grieved over them meant that He loved them, and He still gave them numerous opportunities to repent. After seeing them, Jesus healed the man, and his hand was restored. This also symbolizes that despite the hardness of the hearts of people, our Lord still desires to restore our life so that we may have true peace from Him. This is the opportunity for us to reflect, not just on our exterior actions, but also on our interior feelings and thoughts. Are there times when we are so angry with people that we constantly think of negative things of them? Do we always hold onto the mistakes of others in the past? When we remember the teachings of Christ about love, do we make excuses for ourselves to justify our sins? What are our feelings and our thoughts? May we go deeper in our reflection through our prayers for us to see if there is peace in our hearts. If we realize that there is disturbance within us, let's remember that something is not in accordance with God's will and as such, God invites us to change something in our lives or perspective. May we also take this time to share our feelings and thoughts in front of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. We may do this in front of the Tabernacle or as we enter the Adoration chapel. The fact that the gospel reading is about the Sabbath also means that Jesus is inviting us to offer the Mass where we participate for our intentions and for the conversion of those who may be hurting us. God dwells within us. Let's turn to Him, and we will find peace in our hearts. 

Amen +

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +

May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +  

Reflection by: Dominic

Examination of Conscience and Guide to Sacrament of Confession:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/examination-of-conscience/

Ultimate Catholic Parents Guide:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ls6IcexZAls

Summary and Defense of Catholic Teachings:

https://www.catholic.com/tract/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth